‘What a relief it is to have finally completed my chemotherapy treatment.’ The words of the Princess of Wales yesterday succinctly summarising the mood that will be shared by so many who’ve been through this lifesaving, but gruelling, therapy.
The good news is that any nausea, appetite loss and other chemotherapy side-effects she might have suffered will be behind her, and her strength will be building. Catherine has undergone adjuvant chemotherapy, a treatment used to eliminate any malignant cells that might have escaped surgery to remove a cancer. When giving any patient a powerful cancer-killing drug, doctors must balance the benefits of this vital treatment against the potential long-term risks, but Catherine’s previous good health, and her diet and lifestyle as a slim, fit young woman, will be a bedrock on which her physical recovery can be based.
Kate with Prince William in the emotional video she posted about her recovery
The emotional impact of the diagnosis and treatment can endure, however: many people struggle with life after the disease, and low mood is one of the most common longer term effects. It takes time, to process your feelings, and anxieties, and priorities. As Catherine acknowledged yesterday, a cancer diagnosis ‘brings you face to face with your own vulnerabilities in a way you have never considered before, and with that, a new perspective on everything’.
‘Life, as you know, can change in an instant,’ she said. A cancer diagnosis can pull the rug from under your feet – it undoes our plans, and our vision for our future.
And yes, there is much hope and light after finishing treatment, and while she looks bonny and happy, I imagine that the Princess may be feeling exhausted and have limited reserves of energy, which she will want to reserve for her children.
It will take time to rebuild her former dynamism and I can only hope that she is spared too much by way of expectation – both at home and out here in the world. If I were the Princess’s doctor, I would want her to engage with a long convalescence phase, maybe even a year, away from the usual traumas of life – to give her the space to concentrate on diet, sleep, meditation, regular exercise and some fun, some pleasures – an occasional massage, a bit of ‘spoiling’. Maybe even a regular psychotherapy session from a well-chosen therapist.
As with any patient who’s undergone arduous treatment for a serious disease, we should not expect her to now be ‘raring to go’.
As for what her family – indeed, the families of anyone who is post cancer treatment – can do, the key is to be supportive, as clearly hers is. This means offering care without cotton-woolling, but also to recognise they are no longer bullet-proof. The anxiety that their disease may return haunts many cancer patients, an anxiety that can be heightened when they undergo the regular scans or blood tests for tumour markers to check on this. This creates horizons in your life that add to the burden of anxiety, a background of fear that’s omnipresent. It takes strength – and support – to keep that natural worry under control.
She is not through the woods, but the Princess of Wales has our hopes and affection as she continues on a journey that is shared by so many people around the world – we wish her well in this next phase of her recovery.
